Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Larger tires may well decrease your fuel economy by adding weight and rolling resistance to your vehicle. Rolling resistance is the result of increased friction from aggressive treads that the vehicle must overcome while moving. The standard method to calculate miles per gallon (mpg) is to fill your gas tank, drive around, refill and read the mileage traveled and gas used. However,this method needs to be altered slightly to account for the fact your odometer is likely to be inaccurate because of the larger tires.
The acronym mpg stands for "miles per gallon," the non-metric measurement of fuel economy in cars and trucks. The mpg formula allows you to compare the fuel efficiency among vehicles. If you're not satisfied with your car's mileage, you might consider trading it in on a more fuel-efficient vehicle. The better gas mileage your car or truck gets, the less time and money you will be spending at the pump.
You can calculate the miles per gallon (mpg) your car or truck gets on a trip by filling the tank before and after the trip and keeping track of the gallons you used during the trip. Knowing your vehicle's miles per gallon helps you estimate how much future trips will cost when gas prices rise or fall. Keeping a record of your vehicle's mpg also shows when it's losing fuel efficiency due to age or mechanical problems.
Miles per gallon shows how efficient a car uses gasoline. More efficient cars use less gasoline and reduce emissions into the air. In addition, if you notice a significant drop in the miles per gallon your car is getting, it may reflect a problem with the car that needs to be repaired.
The laboratories the EPA use to test vehicle MPG are modified to accurately simulate the driving experience as accurately as possible. The vehicle's drive wheels are placed on machines called dynamometers to monitor distance. The resistance of the dynamometer can be modified to allow for road or wind conditions. A specially trained driver then operates the vehicle through several tests for city driving and highway driving. The tests utilize averages in different temperatures and operating modes (cold starts, warm starts, and air conditioning usage) to provide an accurate average for the vehicle's MPG rating.
